


Sepulcher

by merelyans



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Death, Gen, Grim Reapers, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Reapers, Sad and Happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26821327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merelyans/pseuds/merelyans
Summary: Suga first made eye contact with Death on a Tuesday when he was young.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 15
Kudos: 68





	Sepulcher

Suga first made eye contact with Death on a Tuesday when he was young. Death held his mother’s hand and walked her to a large wooden oak door, heavy and dark, swinging it open with the snap of his fingers.

She walked through that door. And Death winked at Suga, holding a finger up to his lips, a smile dancing across his eyes and down to his mouth. Death had seen him so clearly, and he knew that it was mutual.

Then the door closed, and Suga was left alone with the shell of his pulse-starved mother, the air stiff, the green flatline screeching in the stale dark silence. Suga’s dad wasn’t one to have regrets, but for years he hated himself for letting Suga see his mother's last moments, all alone.

He didn’t listen when Suga insisted he hadn’t been alone.

\---

Suga met Death again when he came for his dad. Ten years had passed, and Suga watched as his body was taken away by the paramedics, his dad gasping for air, blood trickling down his arms. 

Death stood across the street, his hands in his pockets, watching intently. His eyes weren’t on the dying man, though, for his eyes needed to be elsewhere. He was watching Suga as Suga stared back, registering that Death had not changed.

That was how it went, right? That Death was unchanging, inevitable. It was only set in stone that Suga would see him again, knowing it wouldn’t be the last time.

He gave Suga a small nod, and when the paramedics opened the ambulance doors, Death was gone. So was his father. 

\---

Three years passed, and Suga found a home in visiting their graves. He would bring the deepest of red roses, roses so red they looked purple and black, and laid them down on the cold stone. The rain always stained the marble in deep red, flooding the grass in watercolor crimson.

The roses crumpled in on themselves, browning with every new visit. The grass flourished in shades of deep greens, the smell of morning heavy in the damp air. He watches the flowers crisp and dry, brown around the edges, disintegrating with every touch, the insides burning in deep ruby. His pants are wet with dew, his mouth tart as he lays the last bouquet of flowers down on the polished, yet stained, marble. 

He’s tired. More tired than he had ever been.

Made sense. At least it was better than the bitter taste boiling up in his stomach, threatening to purge itself.

The brown deepens, wrinkling to the stem. The brown turns to black ash, and he watches the pieces blow away in the light wind, the grass beneath him curling in decomposition. He pulls his knees to his chest, shivering. 

“Have you come for me, now?” He stares blankly at the headstones, his eyes falling onto a third one. One that would be of use in the coming days.

Suga can feel Him sitting on the gravestone behind him, the grass around his feet dying and reviving in proximity to his being. He’s tired.

“Not yet.” He simply puts, joining Suga on the grass. 

His voice was soft. All-knowing. Sad. The words were vague.

He didn't expect Death to sound so lost.

“You killed those roses.” He points to the lump of decay on his mother’s grave. "I spent half of my last paycheck on them."

They sit in silence.

“Sorry.”

Death goes up to the grave and picks up the dead flowers, blowing on them so the ashes can scatter. He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a single rose, placing it on the gravestone.

“If I’m the one to reap it, it’ll come back.”

He turns to face Suga, offering a small smile. His eyes are soft and warm, but they hide black melancholy. 

"Promise?"

“They always come back, you know.”

Death spreads out, playing with the dead grass, new lively blades springing up underneath, richer than before. Suga’s body is heavy, and he’s tired.

“Where did the ashes go?” Suga stares up the sky, shielding his eyes, feeling the breeze with every inch of his body.

_What a beautiful day._

“They had to die so something else could live.”

Suga nods, and leans on Death’s bony shoulder. His body is cold but he radiates warmth. He reaches up and gingerly pats Suga’s head, stroking his hair.

“I’m sorry.” Suga muses, his eyelids heavy. “I’m just so sleepy. I didn’t think it would be so soon.”

Death’s grasp on Suga's shoulder tightens, and he holds his hand. Death’s entire body shudders slightly and he places a kiss on the top of Suga’s head.

“You can rest now.” He whispers. “It’s okay. I don't mind."

Without another word, Suga’s dull eyes flicker, slowly closing.

\---

Death’s name was Tooru. 

And he carried Suga to his sepulcher door, rose petals fluttering aimlessly in the wind.


End file.
